Oakville sentenced to five years in prison for injuring infant son

LITCHFIELD >> When it came time for David Shannon to recommend to a judge a sentence for Joseph Baribault, the senior assistant state’s attorney pointed to the convicted felon’s lack of respect for time.

Baribault, the Oakville man convicted in late March on a single count of risk of injury to a child for breaking his son’s femur while babysitting him in September 2011, sauntered into court nearly 90 minutes late for his Friday hearing, which was supposed to start at 9:30 a.m.

“The defendant doesn’t have the wherewithal to show up on time for sentencing,” Shannon said when addressing Judge James Ginocchio. “He doesn’t take it seriously; it’s a joke. It’s disrespectful to his own family members. It’s disrespectful to the child. It’s disrespectful to the court.”

Shannon argued for six and a half years before Ginocchio settled on five years and five years’ probation when Baribault is released.

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Accompanied by family and his girlfriend, Baribault looked dishevelled, like he had just rolled out of bed, in long gray sweats and a pair of white sneakers. He sat in the back of the court room, clasping his girlfriend’s hand, until his case was called, and then plopped himself in a chair next to his attorney, Robert F. Dwyer.

Dwyer told court officials Baribault was sullen, not insolent, and “lost hope” after his conviction.

At trial, Baribault tried shifting blame toward his infant son’s grandmother, Dawn Warner, who was present at the sentencing but elected not to speak. He said he never intended to hurt his son and his leg got caught in a slat of the crib.

Shannon said the crime wasn’t premeditated, but malicious.

“The degree of force required to break that bone is very large,” Shannon said. “He did lose his temper with his child. ... He wasn’t built to be a father at that time.”

A prior conviction for second-degree sexual assault aside, Ginocchio said Baribault was issued eight infractions — for fighting, self-mutilation and disobedience — while he was incarcerated for seven months while awaiting trial.

He pointed to a pre-sentencing investigation that alluded to Baribault’s persistent taste for marijuana, a habit he picked back up after being released on bond in March following 14 months of sobriety.

“Nothing in this pre-sentencing investigation moves me to make his sentence more favorable to him,” Ginocchio said, saying he was convinced at trial Baribault took his son’s leg and “wrung that leg to the point where he fractured it.”

Ginocchio was unimpressed by letters from Baribault’s family, painting him as a loving father who was dealt an unfavorable hand, a stance that rankled Shannon.

“There was no way that baby had the strength, the energy, the wherewithal to cause that damage to himself,” he said.

The victim’s mother asked for her son not have to visit Baribault while he is incarcerated, a matter Ginocchio said was for a family court magistrate. He ordered Baribault not to have unsupervised visits with his son.

Baribault is being credited with serving seven of his 60-month sentence. Dwyer asked for the judge to impose a bond so Baribault can remain free while appealing the conviction. Ginocchio ordered him held on $750,000 bail.